Oil-well packer.



No. 802,880. PATE NTED OGTfZ QlQUF).

T. W. PHILLIPS, JR.

OIL WELL PACKER. summon FAILED MAR.15, 1905.

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OlIL WIELl... PACKET-L Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1905.

Application filed March 15, 1905. Serial No. 250,228.

To all whom it ntay concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. PHILLIPS, Jr., a citizen of the United States of America, residingat Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Well Packers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to oil-well packers, and has for its object the provision of a packer of novel form adapted to be applied to the end of an oil-well casing or the end of a section of the same to prevent the passage of liquid between the well-casing and the Walls of the well-hole.

l-leretofore an oil-well packer has been made and used wherein spring-impelled tapering slips or arms were employed to sustain the lower part of a section of packer, the upper section of the same being attached to the lower end of the casing and an intervening section of elastic material provided,which is expanded against the walls of the well-hole by the descent of the upper section of the packer,while the lower section was held stationary in the well-hole by means of said slips or arms.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ, in addition to the tapering slips or arms above mentioned, a series of double-wedgeshaped segmental plates or blocks, which surround a tapering portion of the packer below the expansible elastic packing material and intervene between said tapering portion and the said slips or arms, so as to cause the latter to be expanded outwardly to agreater extent than they would be if such blocks or plates were not employed.

Certain details of construction are included in my invention and form a part thereof, and these details will be hereinafter fully set forth. I have illustrated my improvement in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of my improvement attached to the lower end of an oil-well casing. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken through a portion of the earth and showing my improved packer in an oil-well hole, a portion of the packer being also in section. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line A A of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line B B of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view on the line C C of 5 Fig. 3.

1n the several figures of the drawings like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts.

1 designates a portion of the oil-well casing, which is screw-threaded on its lower end and screws into a collar 2, that in turn screws over the end of a section of tubing of substantially the same internal and external diameter as the casing 1. Upon the section 3 is mounted a section 40f elastic material,preferably heavy hose-pipe, this section abutting against the lower edge of the collar 2 and resting on a sliding sleeve 5, mounted upon the section 3. The sleeve 5 tapers inwardly, as at 6, from about its middle to its lower edge, and the circumference of this sleeve is the same as that of the collar 2. A plurality of segmental metallic blocks or plates 7 T are arranged around the lower tapering end of the sleeve 5, and in the inactive position of parts (shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings) these plates bear for a considerable portion on the inner surface against the outer surface of the section 3. These plates or blocks are of double-wedge shape in vertical section.their inner surfaces 8 9 tapering inwardly toward the center or substantially the center of the plates, and their outer surfaces 10 11 tapering outwardly from the ends toward the middle or substantially the middle of the plates, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Each of the plates or blocks 7 carries a headed screw 12, and these screws pass through a slot 13 in a spring slip or arm 14:, each of the spring slips or arms 14 having a head 15, serrated or roughened on its outer surface and tapering to a practically sharp edge at its upper end. The spring slips orarms Mare carried by and preferably formed integral with a ring 16, which surroundsthesection 3, and below thering l6 isarranged astrong spiral spring 17, which rests upon a collar 18, that is screwed onto the lower end of the section 3. Within the section 3a small disk 19 is arranged. this disk being formed with horizontal arms 20 20, that extend through holes in the sides of the section 3 and outwardly above the top edge of the ring 16. The disk 19 and the arms 20 20, are preferably formed integral and are com posed of wood or other fragile and easilybroken material, the purpose of the disk being to sustain the ring 16 and attached parts in depressed position against the resiliency of the spring 17, and the disk 19 beingintended to be broken by a weight allowed to fall through the casing when it is desired to operate the packer, as will be presently described. For the purpose of facilitating the falling through the casing.

easy breaking of the disk 19 it is formed with a diametrically-disposed groove 21, which weakens the disk and causes it to break across the groove 21 when it is struck by a weight It will be noted that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 the outer surfaces of the collar 2, the elastic section 4:, the sleeve 5, the surface 10 of the blocks or plates 7, the ring 16, and the collar 18 are all in alinement, so that the packer is of the same diameter substantially throughout its entire length.

Operation: When the packer has been attached to the end of the casing and the latter lowered into the well -hole, the packer remains in the position shown in Fig. 1, and when it has reached the desired depth in the well-hole a weight is dropped through the casing and striking the disk 19 breaks the same and drives the disk and the arms down into the well below the end of the packer, the arms 20 being formed with rounded ends 22 to facilitate their withdrawal from the holes in the sides of the section 3. As soon as the disk 21 has been broken and the arms thereof withdrawn from position over the ring 16 the latter will be impelled upwardly by the spring 17, carrying with it the slips or arms 18 and the segmental plates or blocks 7. When this action takes place, the segmental blocks or plates 7 and the slips or arms 14 will assume the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the outer roughened surfaces on the heads 15 of the'slips or arms 14 bearing against the walls'of the well-hole and serving to sustain the sleeve 5 against downward movement. The weight of the casing is then imposed on the packet, and as the section 3 is free to move downwardly while the sleeve 6 is held in stationary position the pressure or weight of the casing will be imposed upon the elastic section at and the latter will be caused to curve outwardly and bear forcibly against the Wall of the well-hole, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The principal advantage of my device is that I get a greater degree of lateral expansion of the slips or arms 14 by reason of the fact that the blocks or plates 7 7, sliding on the tapering sleeve 5, tend to force the upper ends of heads of the slips or arms 14 outwardly and the heads themselves slip on the surfaces 11 11 of the blocks or plates Land these su rfaces being made tapering the heads of the slips or arms 14 are projected out-farther than if the slips or arms contacted directly withthe tapering surface 6 of the sleeve 5. The advantage which accrues from the additional degree to which the heads of the slips or arms 1a are spread outwardly is that while I can make the packer of a size that will fit neatly and snugly in the oil-well hole the heads of the arms or slips 10 by the arrangement shown and described are expanded out to a considerable distance, so as to firmly lock the packer at a point where, per- 5 haps, the port of the well would be slightly larger than at other points. Furthermore, by the double-wedge action of the plates or blocks 7 and the heads of the arms or slips 14 a very firm and reliable gripping action is provided that will not allow the packer to be forced down in the well-hole after it has once been fixed in position.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a packer for oil-wells, the combination with a collar adapted to be attached to the casing, a section carried by said collar, a sliding sleeve having a tapering lower end and mounted on the section and an elastic section arranged between said collar and said sleeve, of a ring surrounding the first-named section, slips or arms carried by the said ring and having tapering heads, with vertical slots in the heads, segmental plates or blocks tapering towardtheir upper and lower edges, a groove passing through the slots in said heads and into said blocks, a spring arranged below said ring and adapted to impel the latter upwardly and a fragile locking-piece extending across the first-named casing and having arms extending over said ring.

2. In an oil-well packer, the combination with an elastic section, a tapering sliding sleeve, anda hollow section on which said elastic section and sleeve are mounted, of spring impelled slips or arms, and tapering plates or blocks movable relatively to said slips or arms and interposed between said slips or arms and said section.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a section carried by the end of the casing, a sleeve movable on said section,

an eXpa-nsible packing adapted to be expanded by the movement of said sleeve, said sleeve having a tapering interior surface, a series of tapering blocksor plates adapted to slide on said sleeve and a series of slips or arms connected to said blocks or plates, and means for moving said blocks or plates and thesaid slips or arms relatively to the said sleeve whereby to spread the slips or arms and cause them to contact with the walls of the well-hole.

4. In adevice of the character described, the combination with a section adapted to be can ried by the casing, an expansible sleeve surrounding said section, a tapering sleeve abutting said expansible sleeve, of double tapering blocks or plates embracing said tapering sleeve, and sliding slips or arms contacting with said double tapering blocks or plates and adapted to bear against the sides of the wellhole.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS w. PHILLIPS, JR.

Witnesses:

L. P. WALKER, O. W. Ross. 

